


The Power That's Inside

by DisappearingOctopus



Series: Haikyuu in Hoenn [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, M/M, Pokemon AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-25
Updated: 2016-09-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 13:46:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7576243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DisappearingOctopus/pseuds/DisappearingOctopus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>New to Petalburg City with nothing to do, Tadashi Yamaguchi ventures into the Petalburg Woods where he has his first real Pokemon battle with a seasoned trainer. The two become unlikely friends who unknowingly will change each other's lives. </p><p>Part of a mutli-fic Haikyuu!! Pokemon AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First chapter for my portion of Haikyuu in Hoenn!! Go check out the other current chapters up by leonwingstein!

Yamaguchi walked with trembling legs through Petalburg woods. He slowly crept through the rows of trees and low shrubs and grass trying not to disturb any nearby Pokemon. As he white-knuckled his bug-catching net, he wondered why he was in the woods in the first place.

It has only been about a month since Yamaguchi and his parents moved to Petalburg City from Slateport. He’d been slightly depressed since moving and starting over again, and he hadn’t strayed too far away from his new home until today. His father gave him some new gear and encouraged him to go out and find new Pokemon.

Unfortunately for Yamaguchi, there wasn’t too much to be found east of Petalburg City, so his only choice was to head into the woods. His mom always said he should step out of his comfort zone. It only took about 5 minutes to get to the woods from his house, another 5 minutes to psych himself up to enter the woods, and about 30 seconds to feel completely overwhelmed and lost.

“Alright, Tadashi,” Yamaguchi whispered to himself, hoping to make the empty forest feel fuller. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. You have Pokemon with you if you find any trouble…”

Yamaguchi paused suddenly when he heard the squawking of a few Pokemon in a nearby tree. A small form shot down into a bush, and a group of Tailow flew out of the tree above. Once the silenced resumed, Yamauchi slowly made his way over to the bush where the figure landed. Peering through the bush, Yamaguchi found an incredibly small Tailow who looked to be in severe pain.

“Hey there little guy,” Yamaguchi cooed. He reached into the bush and slowly tried to pick up the small bird Pokemon. The little Tailow responded by chirping angrily and attempting to bite Yamaguchi's hand, but it was so weak that it barely moved its head. “Hey, hey, it's alright,” he said softly. Yamaguchi tried once more to pick up the bird, and this time it agreed. He gently scooped up the small bird Pokemon. “You must’ve been the runt…well, I’ve been there buddy.”

Yamaguchi slung his backpack off his shoulder and rummaged around for one of the potions he packed away. He pulled one out, flipped open the nozzle and began to spray the areas on the Tailow that appeared to be wounded, particularly the wings and breast. The Tailow let out a couple of screeches of pain and protest, but it quieted down once realizing how well the potion was working. After a few minutes of the treatment, the Pokemon had gained enough strength to sit upright and hop around a little on Yamaguchi's hand.

“Wow, those things work miracles, huh?”

The Tailow tweeted back at him and hopped onto his shoulder.

“Ah, you’re welcome!” Yamaguchi grinned. “You’re the first Pokemon I’ve found today. I know how it feels to be picked on. I always wish I had someone to standup to those bullies.”

Tailow tweeted back, sounding like it agreed.

“Hey!” Yamaguchi exclaimed. “If you’d like, you could stick with me! Maybe together we can grow stronger!”

Tailow tweeted louder this time, and nuzzled into the crook of Yamaguchi’s neck.

“In that case,” Yamaguchi reached for an empty Pokeball from his pocket. He enlarged it and held it out for the Tailow. “Why don’t you rest in here for a bit?”

Tailow nuzzled against Yamaguchi’s cheek and then pecked at the Pokeball. The red and white ball opened up and absorbed Tailow with a red light. Once inside, the ball sealed itself. Yamaguchi put the ball back into his pocket and happily stood back up, ready to continue. He turned to walk but immediately crashed into the body of a tall man.

“Augh!” Yamaguchi screamed. He fell backwards onto the ground and looked up and the man, and boy, was he _tall_.

“Wow,” the man said, sounding a like a mixture of condescending and unimpressed. “That was the most uneventful way to catch a Pokemon I’ve ever seen.”

Yamaguchi himself was pretty tall, but this guy was massive. He had to stand at over 6 feet, which, wasn’t too unusual, but Yamaguchi figured he was about the same age as him. And at 18 years old, this guy was huge. He stared down at Yamaguchi, smirking, and lifted a finger to prop his glasses back up his nose.

“That Tailow’s the runt of the litter, there’s no point in raising it.”

“It was hurting!” Yamaguchi protested. “The other’s were picking on it!”

“Huh,” the man responded. “In-fighting in a flock? Unusual. Yet you still caught it?” He paused and glanced down at Yamaguchi’s belt. “You’re a trainer?”

“Wha-?” Yamaguchi stammered. He quickly stood back up and brushed some leaves off of his pants and jacket. “I mean….kind of, I guess.”

“Kind of?”

“Y-yes, I’m a trainer,” Yamaguchi said, trying to sound a little more confident. There was a strange pause of silence. Then Yamaguchi spat out, “want to battle?” The moment he said that, he shocked himself, and immediately regretted it.

The man’s face softened. “Uh, sure. Are you…okay with that?” he asked.

Yamaguchi realized he must have looked absolutely terrified and was wide-eyed staring at this man. But, he knew he couldn’t turn back now. “Yes.”

The man nodded. “Best of three?”

“Yes!” Yamaguchi responded. He was relieved the battle was going to be a small one, seeing as the newly caught Tailow was his 4th Pokemon. “I’m Tadashi Yamaguchi.”

“Kei Tsukishima.”

Yamaguchi nodded. “Alright!” he took a couple of steps backwards and fiddled with his belt before finding the right Pokemon. “Here it goes! Budew!”

The ball opened to reveal the small bud Pokemon, it chirped a little, excited to battle. It jumped up and down a few times and looked back to Yamaguchi with a twinkle in its eye.

“Yes! You can do it, buddy!” Yamaguchi responded, feeling the excitement of his Pokemon rubbing off on him.

Tsukishima threw a Pokeball into battle, not calling out a name. A white light flashed to reveal a small orange chick Pokemon.

“A Torchic,” Yamaguchi said to himself. “That must have been his starter…shoot! It’s still a fire type. I’ve still gotta try my best! Bedew, use stun spore!”

Bedew jumped around a little bit and generated some yellow powder from the bus on itd head. It ran forward and launched the powder across the field to Torchic.

“Dodge and use growl,” Tsukishima said calmly.

Yamaguchi was hopeful for a moment that his attack would land, but the Torchic was too quick and it leapt into the air. As it was airborne, Torchic yelled down at Budew, startling it.

“Use ember.”

Torchic landed, yelped, and then shot hot-read embers from its beak. It was a direct hit to Budew.

“Ah! Budew are you alright?!” Yamaguchi yelled to his Pokemon.

Budew stood up, swayed a little bit, and then collapsed.

“Oh no, Budew!” Yamaguchi said. “Return, you did great!”

Tsukishima’s Torchic enthusiastically turned and chirped at its trainer, excited about the win. It ran up to Tsukishima and leapt into his arms, nuzzling its trainer. “Y-yea…you did fine, Torchic. Now cut that out, return.” A red light beamed at Torchic and took it back inside the Pokeball.

Yamaguchi turned back to Tsukishima. “You called back Torchic? Why? It’s so powerful!”

“It’s best of 3? I won the first round, now we reset,” Tsukishima explained.

“Oh, I see,” Yamaguchi responded. He was thankful, since his only other Pokemon were grass-types.

“I’ll pick first now,” Tsukishima said. He tossed another Pokeball in and a white light flashed and revealed a pink and blue Pokemon.

“Is that…a Sylveon?” Yamaguchi asked. “Ah, it’s so cute!”

“Don't...” Tsukishima murmured to himself. He propped his glasses back onto his nose, turned slightly red with embarrassment that someone called his Pokemon cute. “Call your next Pokemon, please.”

Yamaguchi smiled seeing Tsukishima is a less intimidating manner, even though they had just met. He reached into his belt and pulled out another Pokeball, and threw it into battle. “Go, Chickorita!”

A plump green Pokemon with a leaf on its head landed at Yamaguchi's feet. It cried out its name excitedly and hopped forward, ready to fight. Yamaguchi's gave his Pokemon a nod and looked up at Tsukishima, who was holding up a Pokedex to Chickorita.

“You've never seen a Chickorita before?” Yamaguchi asked, surprised.

“No, I have,” Tsukishima responded, looking back and forth between his Pokedex and Yamaguchi's Chickorita. “I've just never seen one that...large before.”

“Hey!” Yamaguchi yelled back. “My Chickorita is perfectly fine!”

“The average weight is 14.1 pounds...what is that thing, 25 pounds?”

Yamaguchi blushed. “There's nothing wrong with a plump Chickorita! Pudding is doing her best!”

“You named it 'Pudding?'”

Yamaguchi's face got even redder. “Can we just start?”

Tsukishima laughed a little bit and then nodded. “Sylveon, use quick attack.”

Sylveon leapt forward at incredible speeds at Chickorita.

“Pudding, jump and use razor leaf!” Yamaguchi yelled.

“Oh my god, you need to change its name,” Tsukishima said flatly.

The Chickorita leapt into the air, but due to its size it was a little slow to the start, and it got nicked on its feet by Sylveon's attack. It was unable to adjust itself in the air, but it used razor leaf anyway and did its best to aim for the Sylveon. It's aim was very off, and the leaves shot straight at Tsukishima instead.

Tsuskishima could barely react in time, but his Sylveon noticed where the leaves were going, and ran back to its trainer. It leapt into the air and tackled Tsukishima to the ground, getting hit only slightly by the leaves.

“You shouldn't have done that, you got hit,” Tsukishima said to his Pokemon.

Sylveon ignored Tsukishima and licked his face a little bit to make sure he was okay.

“Aw, Sylveon's really do love their trainers,” Yamaguchi mumbled to himself. He looked over at Chickorita, who was confused with what to do. “It was a nice shot, buddy. We'll get them next time!”

Tsukishima finally managed to stand back up and re-focus his Syleveon into battle. “Use draining kiss,”

Syleveon ran up to Chickorita and bit down onto her neck before Yamaguchi or Chickorita could react. The minimal damage the razor leaf did to Sylveon was repaired by draining some of the energy from Chickorita.

“Ahh!!” Yamaguchi yelled. “Chickorita, shake them off!”

Chickorita jumped and wiggled around, bucking like a horse. But ultimately she couldn't escape Sylveon's bite. Instead, Chickorita began waving it's head leaf around until it started to hit Sylveon on the head with it. It didn't appear to be doing much damage.

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi both looked at the Pokemon dumbfounded.

“What is she doing?” Yamaguchi asked out loud.

“I believe earlier you said she was 'doing her best?'” Tsukishima responded with a smirk.

Chickorita continued to hit Sylveon on the head until finally it let go. Sylveon stepped back and wiggled its nose a couple of times until it let out a few sneezes.

“Ah! Alright!” Yamaguchi exclaimed. “That was so smart of you!”

“Syleveon stop sneezing and use quick attack again,” Tsukishima said.

This time neither Yamaguchi nor Chickorita was paying attention, and Sylveon connected the attack. Chickorita was knocked backwards a couple of feet passed Yamaguchi. She landed on her back and started squirming around trying to stand back upright. But instead of leaning her body towards the right, where Yamaguchi stood, she leaned towards the left, and proceeded to roll down a steep hill.

“Pudding!” Yamaguchi yelled, chasing after her. He ran to the edge of the hill and watched as his Pokemon's green frame roll faster and faster down the hill, until she collided with a tree at the very bottom. Yamaguchi yelped and started to run down the hill to retrieve his fainted Pokemon. He was halfway there until his foot caught on the root of a tree and sent him tumbling down into the tree just as Chickorita had.

All the while, Tsukishima and his Pokemon stood at the top of the hill watching the whole mess go down.

“How is it that both a trainer and his Pokemon are so uncoordinated?” Tsukishima asked. Sylveon sat down at his feet and mewed, as if trying to answer. “He has a lot of potential, he just needs someone to help him.”

Sylveon rubbed its head against Tsukishima's leg and pranced down the hill after Yamaguchi and Chickorita.

“Is that your way of saying it should be me?” Tsukishima asked, annoyed at the thought of teaching someone.

Sylveon reached the bottom and nudged its head against Yamaguchi's, and then Chickorita's.

Yamaguchi smiled at Sylveon as he turned himself right-side up and sat against the trunk of the tree. “That was a fun battle!” Yamaguchi said to Sylveon, and then to Tsukishima as he slowly walked down the hill.

“That was something, alright,” Tsukishima responded. “Are you two okay?”

Yagamuchi nodded and then looked down at Chickorita, who was knocked out. “I'm alright. This little guy needs a rest though,” Yamaguchi said. He pulled out Chickorita's Pokeball and returned the Pokemon inside. “You're a really good trainer!”

“Ah, thanks,” Tsukishima replied.

Yamaguchi pasued, not knowing what to say. “Um...are you from around here?”

“I'm from Petalburg City,” Tsukishima said.

“Oh, I just moved there! I'm surprised I haven't seen you around.”

“My brother wanted me to visit home. It's out of the way for me, but it seemed important.”

“Where are you coming from?”

“Mauville City.”

“Really?!” Yamaguchi said with excitement. “That place sounds really cool! What did you go there for?”

“Um,” Tsukishima stammered, not expecting to play 100 questions with this guy. “I went for a gym battle.”

“That's why you're so good,” Yamaguchi said nodding. “How many badges do you have?”

“Three.”

Yamaguchi stopped speaking for a moment to notice how Tsukishima was responding. “You...don't sound too thrilled about it.”

Tsukishima shook his head. “It's none of your business.”

Yamaguchi frowned and looked at the ground as a reflex to embarrassment. “Sorry...I didn't mean to pry. I just moved here and I don't really have any friends...and you're kind of interesting to talk to.”

Tsukishima looked down at Yamaguchi and was struck by how sad he seemed. Usually stuff like this didn't phase him, but he couldn't shake it for some reason. He sighed. “Would you like to walk back to Petalburg together?”

Yamaguchi looked up at Tsukishima and smiled. “Thanks! Let's go!”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys travel back to Petalburg City at catch up with Tsukishima's brother, Akiteru. Yamaguchi decides he needs more adventure in his life and tries to convince Tsukishima to let him tag along.

“Ah! Finally free!” Yamaguchi exclaimed as he ran out of Petalburg Woods. He paused to stretch his arms and back, basking in the sunlight. “How long were you lost in there for, Tsukishima?”

“Er...lost?” Tsukishima questioned. His Sylveon, still walking beside him, mewed back as well.

“Uh, I m-mean,” Yamaguchi stuttered upon learning that he alone got lost. He started to worry in his head that maybe he shouldn't have gone out, maybe it's too dangerous, maybe he isn't capable maybe-

His train of thought was broken as Tsukishima passed him. He rubbed the back of his neck and sighed, relived that he wasn't questioned further about being lost. After regaining composure, he jogged to catch up.

“So ah,” Yamaguchi started to say. He paused to think of what he actually _was_ going to say, his only goal not to embarrass himself further. “What is it that your brother wants?”

“He said he picked up something for me, and that it was very important that I come home and get it as soon as possible.”

“What do you think it is?”

“I don't know. That's why I'm going home,” Tsukishima responded flatly.

Yamaguchi didn't respond for a little while. Tsukishima's coldness took him by surprise, and he didn't want to upset him further...if that was even his fault. Out of all the trainers he had come across, Tsukishima was certainly one of the quieter ones. Most trainers were excited to battle and meet other trainers and their Pokemon, but Tsukishima came across as indifferent. Even during their battle, Yamaguchi recalled, Tsukishima didn't seem very interested or engaged despite his obvious aptitude.

The two of them strolled in silence, with Sylveon occasionally straying from them to investigate something she heard in a bush or tree. She always trotted back to the boys and spoke up to let them know she returned and found nothing of interest. It made Yamaguchi smile as the Pokemon happily walked beside them both, not having a care in the world. He noticed when Sylveon returned a fifth time from investigating that one of the ribbons on her head was moving around a little more than usual. One of the feelers attached to the bow flew upward and wrapped itself around Tsukishima's hand. It happily purred its name.

“Ah, how cute! She's holding your-” Yamaguchi looked up to Tsukishima, hopefully to talk to again, but was cut off when he realized how bright red his face and ears were. It was kind of cute seeing such an imposing personality appear so soft. He wanted to say something else about it, and also laugh, but worried he might accidentally set him off. So instead he let out the most unnecessary, uncomfortable, cough.

“Are you okay?” Tsukishima asked him while looking mildly concerned for his health. He peered down at Yamaguchi, who was covering his mouth with a hand.

“I coughed,” he replied.

“Uh,” Tsukishima began to say. “If you say so.”

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Yamaguchi exclaimed. He stopped in his tracks and swung his backpack over his shoulder and kneeled down to look through it. Tsukishima and Sylveon paused to wait and looked back at him.

“What?”

“Well, you won the battle right?” Yamaguchi explained. He rummaged a little deeper in his bag, pulling out some miscellaneous items to help him search. “I don't know a lot about battling and training, but doesn't the loser owe the winner some money?”

Tsukishima held one hand up in protest, the other still tied down with Sylveon. “Don't worry about it.”

Yamaguchi looked up at him, confused. “What? But, you won!”

“It's fine, really,” Tsukishima said. He really didn't want to take any money from Yamaguchi. “You're a weak trainer, it would make me feel like I'm bullying you. And that's sad.”

“I feel bad,” Yamaguchi told him. He was not phased by the insult, partially because he knew it was true. “Can I at least buy you a coffee later?”

Tsukishima was mildly amused that Yamaguchi kept insisting. He smirked a little bit and turned to continue walking. “Stop calling your Chickorita 'Pudding' and we'll call it even.”

 

 

“It's this one,” Tsukishima announced. He and Yamaguchi stood in front of the small brown house, very similar to the others in Petalburg. Tsukishima opened the front door and Sylveon leapt ahead of him into the house, excited to be home. Yamaguchi followed Tsukishima inside. They left their shoes by the door as the wandered into the house.

“Akiteru?” Tsukishima called out.

“Over here!” a voice responded. “Sylveon already found me!”

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi walked into a small living room where another blonde man stood, petting Sylveon's head lovingly. “Hey lil bro!” he said. “Long time no see!”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima said to his brother. “I don't think mom and I were expecting you back so soon.”

“Yeah well...funny how things work out! Working with the PokeRangers isn't as fun as I thought it would be...”

“You quit? Again?” Tsukishima sounded about as annoyed as he looked.

His brother waved a hand in front of his face to dismiss the conversation and turned his attention towards Yamaguchi. “Ah, friend of yours?” He approached Yamaguchi and extended his hand. “Akiteru Tsukishima.”

“Tadashi Yamaguchi,” he responded, shaking hands. He was surprised to see that Tsukishima's brother was so friendly, in comparison to how Tsukishima acted when they first met. His brother was slightly shorter than Kei and didn't wear glasses and seemed to be overall a more agreeable, energetic, and warm person. Besides that they were a spitting image of each other.

“Well, any friend of Tsukki's is a friend of mine! Come here, let me show you what I got!” Akiteru left the living room and waved an arm to gesture them to join him as he walked outside to the backyard.

“...Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked, not entirely trying to pick on him. Slightly trying to pick on him. Mostly trying too, actually. Tsukishima sighed. He followed his brother outside, ignoring Yamaguchi's taunt. Yamaguchi smiled and joined them outside.

“Check this out!” Akiteru said. He knelt over his backpack, rummaging for something. He pulled out a large flat rock and walked it over to his brother.

“A rock?” Yamaguchi asked peering over the object.

“A fossil!” Akiteru corrected, finger in the air to add a matter-of-fact-ness to his words.

Hearing that made Tsukishima's face light up. “Really?” He asked, stunned.

“Yep!” his brother replied. “Route 111 is full of them!”

Tsuskishima held the fossil and traced his fingers over the grooves. His eyes glistened as he identified every part of the fossil to himself in his mind. Yamaguchi looked at it and thought it resembled a bad drawing someone traced with a finger on wet concrete. Tsukishima paused suddenly and looked closer at one area in particular that appeared to be carved out.

“Oh, that?” Akiteru asked, knowing what his brother was going to ask. “I collected a bunch of fossils and took them to this guy I know to check them out. I wanted to make sure I found you one of those dinosaur ones people have been finding.”

“Dino...saur? Tsukishima asked quietly.

Yamaguchi looked up at him and saw probably the most genuine smile he would ever see from his new friend. His heart fluttered for a second seeing him that happy. He began to wonder if he could ever make him smile like that, or if someone would look at him the same way Tsukishima was looking at the fossil.

“Here,” Akiteru said. His hand was extended to his younger brother, holding a Pokeball. “It ended up being the right one, so it got it taken care of for you.”

Tsukishima hastily put down the fossil and grabbed the Pokeball from Akiteru. He of course knew all about the dinosaur Pokemon, their types, origins, and exactly which one he wanted. “A Tyrunt,” he muttered. “This is really cool, Akiteru. Thank you!”

Akiteru's face drew a blank. “...what?” he asked.

“What?” Tsukishima replied instantly.

“You wanted a Tyrunt?”

Tsukishima and his brother exchanged blank stares. Yamaguchi just watched. Given the slowly changing expression on Tsukishima's face, Yamaguchi worried that if anyone said anything that Tsukishima might actually erupt.

Without saying a word, or breaking eye contact with his brother, Tsukishima threw the Pokeball to activate it. A white light emerged and the form of a small Pokemon with a long neck appeared. The light faded and the Pokemon's blue and yellow coloring was revealed. It roared its name in a very gentle manner, giving off a mystical echo. Amaura.

There was a long, uncomfortable pause. Amaura sat pleasantly eating grass. The brothers said nothing and stared at the new Pokemon. Yamaguchi wanted to die from anxiety.

The silence finally broke when Sylveon ran outside to greet the new friend. She began to lick and nuzzle Amaura, welcoming him to the team.

“I...kept Tyrunt for myself,” Akiteru admitted. “I...I thought you'd like Amaura better.”

“Why?” Tsukishima asked curtly.

Akiteru lazily pointed to Sylveon. “I thought cute Pokemon were your thing.”

Tsukishima was at a loss for words, his brother confused, and Yamaguchi uncomfortable. He could feel small beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He slowly backed himself up to the door that led inside and said. “Umm, I-I'll wait in here!” The brothers said nothing and Yamaguchi excused himself inside.

Once the outside door was shut, Yamaguchi let out a deep sigh and wiped his forehead with the neck of his shirt. He plopped down onto the couch and awkwardly investigated around the room, not sure what else to do while the he waited. He also briefly wondered why he was waiting, since Tsukishima only agreed to walking back to Petalburg together.

No matter, Yamaguchi became distracted by the fireplace mantle, which was adorned with pictures and awards. He stood up to check them out and was drawn to a picture of Tsukishima when he must've been about 10 years old. He was holding a rusty fishing rod with both hands, and a Magikarp about half the size of him was dangling from the hook. He was smiling broadly and his eyes were shut. _Cute_ , Yamaguchi thought.

He was next drawn to a red velvet case that had 8 badges behind the glass. Yamaguchi didn't know much about battles and training, but he immediately recognized the badges as the ones from Hoenn's gyms. At the bottom there was a name plate that read: “Akiteru Tsukishima.”

“Wow,” Yamaguchi whispered to himself. “His brother made it to the Pokemon League?”

He looked around on the mantle searching for some sort of certificate or trophy from completing the league, but found nothing. On the other side of the mantle Yamaguchi found an identical badge case that had “Kei Tsukishima” written on the name plate. It was empty.

Yamaguchi remembered Tsukishima's indifference when he asked him questions about his gym badges and wondered if his brother was the only reason he was doing this in the first place. His thoughts were interrupted with the door opened and the brothers walked back in. Yamaguchi couldn't read the situation, and wasn't about to ask.

“Sorry again,” Akiteru shyly said. He patted his brother on the shoulders, maybe a little _too_ hard. Tsukishima's upper body nudged forward only slightly. “And thanks again for doing this favor for me.”

“Sure,” Tsukishima said. “And it's fine. I appreciate it anyway.”

“I meant more about...the _cute_ thing,” Akiteru said.

“Oh,” Tsukishima replied. “Yeah please don't tell me that again. Yamaguchi, we're leaving.”

“O-okay,” Yamaguchi said, surprised by the declaration of 'we.' “It was nice to meet you!”

“Same to you!” Akiteru replied. “Take care of this guy, okay?”

“Wha?” Yamaguchi said. Akiteru just laughed at him and gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder.

The two of them went to put their shoes back on and left the house, saying a few more goodbyes to Akiteru. Once outside, they walked towards the direction of Petalburg woods, much to Yamaguchi's disappointment. He figured he should probably ask where they were going, but then remembered he wasn't sure if Tsukishima wanted him to tag along at all. This was affirmed when Tsukishima stopped walking and turned back to speak to Yamaguchi.

“I'm off to Rustboro City. Akiteru has a friend there and wants to give her the _second_ Tyrunt he found,” Tsukishima said. He put extra emphasis and annoyance on the word 'second.'

“Ah, bummer,” Yamaguchi said. He rubbed the back of his neck to do something with his fidgeting hands. He wasn't sure if he should wait to be asked to tag along or just invite himself. “N-not about having to go to Rustboro City, that sounds awesome! I mean about the Amaura.” Was that too obvious he wanted to go along? Probably. Did Yamaguchi care? Yes, a lot actually. But he was desperate to go an adventure. He'd always just stayed put wherever his family lived. And if he could, he would prefer not to go alone.

“It's fine. It's still a dinosaur Pokemon, so it's still cool,” Tsukishima said. He shrugged and put his hands in his pockets. “Rustboro isn't _that_ exciting. Given the woods, it's only a few hours on foot. Which is annoying, but manageable.”

“Oh,” Yamaguchi said. He couldn't help but be disappointed that the 'adventure' to Rustboro wasn't as exciting as he hope'd it would be. “Well are you...are you coming back to Petalburg after or...?”

Tsukishima paused before answering him, thinking something must be up with Yamaguchi. “I haven't gotten that far in planning yet. I might stay in a hostel in Rustboro and head out to Lavaridge Town tomorrow morning. It'll take me a few days, probably. If that's what I end up doing.”

“There's a gym there, right?”

“Yes. Its the Heat Badge.”

Yamaguchi remembered how indifferent Tsukishima was earlier about badges, and it seems he was about as indifferent now. He wanted to ask him about it and why he didn't seem to care, and if he even _wanted_ to be in the Pokemon League. He really wanted to be friends with and talk to Tsukishima about a lot of things, and was slightly worried that might never happen. He was usually too shy to make a lot of friends on his own.

Yamaguchi had been looking at the ground in disappointment, but was distracted when he saw a hand stretched out to him. He looked up and shook Tsukishima's hand.

“Thank you for the company,” Tsukishima said. His face was unchanged from it's normal bland expression, so Yamaguchi figured he was saying this as a formality. “It was nice to meet you, Yamaguchi.”

“Mhm,” he replied. “You too.”

Nothing else was said. Tsukishima turned and began to walk towards the woods. Yamaguchi watched as he left, hoping he would turn around and invite him. A couple more seconds went by, and then a few more, and nothing changed. He didn't look back. Yamaguchi wasn't sure why he was really expecting anything, but somewhere in his gut, he knew he had to go with him. He'd been too passive for too long, and knew that if he kept put in Petalburg he'd never forgive himself.

Yamaguchi took a hesitant step forward, which turned into a couple of steps, which turned into a jog and then into a sprint. He breathed heavily as he chased after Tsukishima. He wasn't sure what he was going to say once he caught up, so once he was close enough he just yelled as loud as he could so he wouldn't be missed.

“TSUKIIIIIIII!”

Tsukishima turned around at the sound of his nickname. His face went pale and his eyed widened seeing Yamaguchi sprinting towards him. He went with his first reaction, which was to jump out of the way, sending Yamaguchi into a panic. He wasn't expecting Tsukishima to move, and it caught him so off guard that it took his attention away from running. With lack of focus, Yamaguchi's feet collided with each other and sent him face-first into the ground at Tsukishima's feet.

“Umm, hi?” Tsukishima responded. “You okay?”

Yamaguchi lifted his right hand into a thumbs up. “I'm not hurt...I'm just feeling a little too embarrassed to get up.”

“Right. Well...did you forget something?”

Yamaguchi took a deep breath in and propped himself back to standing. He looked at Tsukishima with nervous eyes, trying his best to look serious. He was fairly sure he wasn't.

“Are you going to vomit?” Tsukishima asked, taking a step back from him.

“What?” Yamaguchi responded. He let out a nervous cough, understanding that he failed to look serious. “N-no. Listen, Tsukki...”

Tsukishima narrowed his brow and folded his arms to listen. “What? Also don't call me-”

“I want to go with you!” Yamaguchi exclaimed. Tsukishima looked surprised at his declaration.

“Huh? Why?”

“I can't stay in Petalburg. I can't help but feel like I need to leave and start an adventure for myself. But I know...” he paused and clenched both hands into fists. “I know I can't do it on my own. I don't know enough about training, or traveling, or how to battle to make it on my own. And I know we just met but...I consider you to be a friend, Tsukki. I don't really have anyone else. And this city doesn't have anything for me. So, would you let me come with you?”

Tsukishima sighed and looked at the ground to avoid eye contact. “Yamaguchi, I don't think I'm the best person for you to travel with. You want an adventure and I can't guarantee that what I'm doing is what you want.”

“It's better than staying here.”

“Look, I don't even know if I'm going to finish the Pokemon League. I really...” Tsukishima paused and looked back at Yamaguchi. He wanted to avoid sounding at all vulnerable or unsure of himself. But he figured by now either this guy was either never going to see him again, or be spending a lot of time with him, so it didn't really matter. “I really don't know what I'm doing.”

“B-but you can battle! You seem to know what you're doing there!”

“I mean in general,” Tsukishima responded curtly. “I don't know what I want to do with Pokemon.”

“Me either!” Yamaguchi responded excitedly. He brought a hand to his chest. “We can figure it out together!”

Tsukishima wasn't sure if it was the sudden confidence Yamaguchi displayed, the foreign feeling telling Tsukishima to stick with him, or the fact that Yamaguchi might _actually_ _die_ if he travelled by himself, but Tsukishima muttered out: “Okay.”

“Wha-what...really?!” Yamaguchi exclaimed. “Do you mean it?!”

“Why are you acting so surprised I said yes when you sprinted after me, fell on your face, and literally just begged?”

Yamaguchi's face reddened a little bit. “I've just never really had close friends before...a-and moving has been a little harder than I thought it would be.”

He wasn't sure, but Yamaguchi swore he saw Tsukishima's ears turn a faint shade of pink. “Well, forget all of that now, okay?” He pushed his glasses up his nose and turned to start walking forward again. “I can't guarantee how much I can help you training wise...but I'll try.”

Yamaguchi's eyes lit up and he happily ran to catch up again. “Thanks, Tsukki! You won't regret this, I promise!”

Tsukishima was about to protest for his nickname coming up again, but something stopped him. It typically annoyed him when people who weren't close with him addressed him that casually, but Yamaguchi saying it felt different. For whatever reason.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The single most greatest thing I have discovered is that Sylveons will sometimes use their feelers to hold hands with their trainers. 
> 
> Also I just added tags for Yachi and Hiyoko but they will be here a lil later!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tsukishima and Yamaguchi get to know each other a little better, and run into some strange trouble at Rustboro City.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOD I love this AU a lot!! Be sure to check out the other stories in the collection! :)

Yamaguchi hoped that Tsukishima wouldn't hear his stomach growing for the third time. They had only just left Petalburg when Yamaguchi realized how hungry he was. It was nearly five in the afternoon and he hadn't gotten the chance to eat since breakfast. He would have suggested they stop and eat if it wasn't for the fact that Yamaguchi didn't bring any food with him.

“Hey, pause here,” Tsukki stepped ahead of Yamaguchi and stood at the small cliffs overlooking the sea. They were in between in the woods and the city. Yamaguchi remembered how long he stalled there last time. “Do you mind if we eat before heading into the woods?”

“Yes!” he agreed quickly. “I'm starving!”

“Yeah I know. Your stomach isn't very subtle,” Tsukishima slung his backpack off his shoulder and pulled out a blue plaid blanket that he promptly spread on the grass.

“Oh! It'll be a nice break for the Pokemon too! I brought a bunch of their food along with me,” Yamaguchi added.

“...shit,” Tsukishima muttered. “I meant to pick up some more in Petalburg. Do you mind if I borrow some?”

“Sure, I have plenty! But in that case do you...mind if I uh...borrow some human food?”

Tsukishima sat on the blanket and looked up blankly. “You...didn't pack any food.”

“N-no. We left so suddenly I didn't get the chance.”

“Yikes,” Tsukishima said under his breath. “It's good you came with me. You wouldn't have lasted a day on your own.”

Yamaguchi wanted to argue back and defend himself, but he just let out a smile instead. “That may be, but now we're a team and I can only get stronger!”

“Quit smiling like that, it's creepy.”

“Sorry, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said. He quietly pulled out a tupperware filled with Pokemon food. It was an assorted mixture of nutritious pellets and fresh fruits. He grinned at Tsukishima. “I think you need me too! Otherwise your Pokemon would starve!”

“Okay listen,” Tsukishima protested. “This one time I need you, but don't bet on it in the future.”

Yamaguchi just smiled and put the container down, along with several bowls. He counted out four bowls for each of his Pokemon and then looked up to Tsukishima. “How many Pokemon do you have?”

“Six.”

“Hmm, I guess you would, being a trainer- wait! How do you forget to re-stock food for six Pokemon?!”

“I only had five with me till about twenty minutes ago.”

“That...” Yamaguchi trailed off and portioned out the food anyway. _That shouldn't make a difference,_ he thought. “Can I meet the others?”

“Oh, sure,” Tsukishima pulled out his six Pokeballs on hand and tossed them all forward.

Yamaguchi of course remembered Torchic, Sylveon, and Amaura. The small Torchic ran forward to him almost instantly at the smell of food, the Sylveon following close behind to lift the small chick by the nape of its neck to put it aside. Sylveon mewed and sat politely in front of the food. Amaura was more interested in meeting the new Pokemon on its team. The three new Pokemon were wary of the new member of the team, as well as Yamaguchi. There was a skiddo, a kirlia and a skarmory. Amaura pranced over to greet them with a happy roar, and was received well by the new friends.

Yamaguchi took a moment to release his four pokemon into the rest of the group. Out came his chickorita, tailow, budew, and bulbasaur. The tailow happily flew above everyone for a moment until it came back down and perched on Yamaguchi's shoulder.

“Glad you're feeling better!” Yamaguchi told the small bird. “Now everyone say hello to Tsukishima and his team!”

The pokemon began playing with one another, occasionally breaking to join Tsukishima and Yamaguchi for some food. Tailow and Skarmory flew off and were playing some sort of game in the air. Sylveon was playing with Bulbasaur's vines like a cat toy, while Skiddo was perched on a rock watching them. Budew mostly stayed sitting in Yamaguchi's lap munching on some fresh berries. Chickorita lovingly followed Kirlia around as he played racing games with Amaura. Torchic stayed by Tsukishima's side, snuggled underneath one of his hands.

“Hey, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi said breaking the silence. Both trainers had been eating without speaking to each other, more interested in how their pokemon were interacting. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” Tsukishima took a bite out of his sandwich without looking away from his pokemon.

“Well...I know you were upset when I called Sylveon cute, and when your brother was picking on you for having cute pokemon-”

“Do you actually have a question?”

“Ah, yes sorry!” Yamaguchi responded. He turned to look at Sylveon. “I hope this doesn't upset you but...all your pokemon _are_ really cute. Well, maybe except for Skarmory, but-”

“This doesn't sound like a question.”

“Sorry, Tsukki! What I'm trying to say is,” Yamaguchi paused to think of how to phrase his question the right way. “If you don't like people saying you have cute pokemon...why do you _have_ cute pokemon?”

“What?” Tsukishima snapped. “I don't-” he paused and looked over his pokemon, and then down at Torchic, who was still cuddled underneath his hand. He took a deep breath and glared in the other direction. “First pokemon stages tend to look more youthful or...cute. Once they evolve they won't be so cute anymore.”

“Why a sylveon then?” Yamaguchi asked.

Tsukishima sighed and set down his sandwich. “That wasn't on purpose.”

Yamaguchi turned to Sylveon who was now napping at the edge of the blanket. “You didn't want a sylveon? How did you accidentally evolve a pokemon?”

“Evolving an eevee with a stone is easy, as is with the leaf and ice rocks. Trying to get an espeon, umbreon, or sylveon is a lot different.”

“How?”

“Umbreons and espeons have a pure friendship with their trainer based on trust and respect. When you train an eevee exclusively at night time and build your bond that way, it evolves into an umbreon. The same goes for an espeon in the day time.”

“What about sylveons? I know that they're known to love their trainers-”

“They do. They don't just want to be close to you as a battle partner. Sylveons care about their trainers in a really strange way They show a lot more affection and aid for their trainers than most other pokemon. It goes way beyond training and battling. It's complete adoration that's really irritating.”

Yamaguchi couldn't help but laugh. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand to try and hide it.

“What's so funny?” Tsukishima asked.

“Well,” Yamaguchi replied, calming himself down from laughter. “It's just kind of sweet that even though you wanted to build a friendship, Sylveon had other plans. Especially with someone as...”

Tsukishima glared at Yamaguchi. “As what?”

“Uh...” Yamaguchi paused and swallowed hard. “As harsh...as you?”

Tsukishima stared blankly at Yamaguchi and shook his head. “To be honest, I'm not sure what I did wrong.”

“Maybe you subconsciously just loved that eevee a lot,” Yamaguchi suggested. They both paused and watched at Sylveon yawned from her sleeping spot and sluggishly walk over to Tsukishima. She curled up at his feet and promptly went back to sleep.

“Maybe,” Tsukishima mumbled.

“Also...” Yamaguchi continued hesitantly.

“You said you had 'a' question,” Tsukishima said.

“Sorry, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi stopped talking and took a bite into his sandwich. “I was just curious. If you have three gym badges, that means you've been doing a lot of battling, right?”

Tsukishima shrugged. “I guess.”

“Well, Torchic should evolve soon, right?”

“Hng!” Tsukishima looked stunned and absolutely irritated. “Ah well...I'm not...sure why it hasn't, actually.”

“Huh? Really?”

“Yeah. I use Torchic pretty often, and it knows moves that a combusken usually has. I'm not sure what the problem is.”

“Torchic was your starter, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Would the professor you got it from know why it's so slow to evolve?”

“Not sure,” Tsukishima said. He scratched Torchic head, who was still asleep under his hand. It chirped in response. “Starters usually hatch from eggs, so I doubt there's any history on it. I have been meaning to call Professor Ukai and ask...”

Yamaguchi leaned over and gave Torchic some pats below its chin. It happily chirped again and rubbed its head into Yamaguchi's hand. “Why not now?”

“I guess I could,” Tsukishima nodded and pulled up the video caller on his pokenav. He scrolled through it until clicking the right number. The machine rang for a little while until a video screen popped up. A severe looking blonde man with a cigarette in his mouth answered.

“Oi, long time so see, Tsukishima!” the man sad. He took a drag of his cigarette and pulled it out of his mouth. “What do ya need?”

“Hi, Professor Ukai,” Tsukishima said. “I had a question about my torchic.”

“Sure, what's the problem?”

“Well,” Tsukishima started to say. He looked down at his torchic. “It's been a while since you have me Torchic, and it still hasn't evolved. I was wondering if you knew why that hasn't happened yet.”

“Oh, it hasn't evolved yet?” Ukai was surprised. He turned to his computer and started tapping away at the keyboard. “If I remember correctly, I got that torchic from another trainer.”

Tsukishima stared dumbfounded into the screen. “Wait what? You mean Torchic didn't hatch from an egg?”

“Hold on, hold on,” Ukai said. A few moments later his eyes widened and he looked at Tsukshima a bit startled.

“ _What?_ ” Tsukishima growled.

“Er, well,” Ukai started to say. He rubbed the back of his head, nervous about how Tsukshima was going to react to the news. “Your torchic was abandoned by it's previous trainer. The trainer came in and said he was giving up on Torchic. Apparently it got in contact with an everstone, and the trainer was frustrated that it wasn't going to evolve.”

There was a cold pause where the tension was almost too much for Yamaguchi to handle. He said nothing and watched at Tsukishima glared furiously into his pokenav.

“Is that supposed to be a joke?” Tsukishima finally asked.

“...do I look like I'm joking?” Ukai said. “Torchic is perfectly healthy and normal otherwise it just can't-”

“Why isn't that something you'd tell me when you gave me the torchic?” Tsukishima hollered.

“I uh...forgot...” Ukai stuttered out.

Tsukishima glared into the pokenav muttering expletives under his breath. On the other side of the pokenav, Professor Ukai looked absolutely petrified. He took a long drag of his cigarette and turned his head to avert his eyes from Tsukishima. He covered his mouth with his hand and started to making static noises.

“KSHH, sorry Tsukishima I'm KSSH losing KSSH connection KSSH.”

“This is a face-to-face pokenav conversation?!” Tsukishima yelled at the professor.

“KSSH, sorry I'm KSSH losing KSSH can't KSSH hear KSSH!!!!!!” Ukai hung up the pokenav and left Tsukishima and Yamaguchi sitting in silence.

Yamaguchi looked at Tsukishima who was staring at his pokenav is disbelief. He looked absolutely livid.

“..Tsukki-” Yamaguchi started to say, not really sure what to say next.

“Useless.”

Yamaguchi was stunned and stared with his mouth agape. He looked down at Torchic, who had rolled onto its side as Tsukishima lifted his hand. “You don't...really mean that do you?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Yes,” Tsukishima snapped.

Yamaguchi glared at Tsukishima. “Torchic is still a good pokemon and companion. You can't just call a pokemon-”

“Ukai,” Tsukishima interrupted.

“What?”

“Torchic isn't useless. Professor Ukai is. He barely knows what he's doing. It's a miracle he became a pokemon professor in the first place.”

“O-oh,” Yamaguchi stuttered. “Sorry I thought you meant-”

“Just because I don't particularly like my pokemon being called cute doesn’t mean I don't like them.”

“S-sorry I just thought-”

“It's fine,” Tsukishima said curtly.

Yamaguchi didn't say anything in response. His anxiety was acting up and sending all kinds of thoughts into his head. _Oh God he must hate me now. What if he drops me off right here and I have to go back to Petalburg? What if I never see him again? What if I can't even make it back to Petalburg on my own? My pokemon will probably abandon me too. What if Tsukisima never says another word to me? What if-_

“Can I ask you a question now?”

Yamaguchi was startled out of his thought process. He turned to face Tsukki once more and saw that his expression was unchanged. Man it was hard to get a read on his emotions, Yamaguchi thought. “S-sure...” he muttered out.

“So did you let Chickorita run wild in a donut factory, or did she inhale a wailmer?” Tsukishima asked with a smirk. “Because I'm still not sure how she morphed into that shape.”

“H-hey!” Yamaguchi yelled back. His face went red while Tsukishima started laughing at his own joke. “Stop picking on her! She's doing her best!”

 

* * *

 

“What the hell?” Tsukishima asked out loud. “Everything's flooded.”

Tsukishima and Yamaguchi had left Petalburg Woods and emerged into Route 104. What was normally a quiet flower shop next to a small pond was now a messy looking swamp. It was impossible to walk around without getting feet wet. Several police were manning the area as well as some nurses from the Pokemon Center. There were a couple of pokemon scattered around the area.

“What happened?” Yamaguchi asked. “Did it rain?”

“No way,” Tsukishima said. “If it rained here it would have defiantly rained in Petalburg too.”

Yamaguchi looked around trying to find an exit to the route. “Can we even get to Rustboro?”

Tsukishima walked ahead of him to the direction of the pond. Yamaguchi quietly followed as he approached a police officer. “Excuse me? We need to get to Rustboro City.”

The officer pointed to an area in the pond that had traffic cones placed a couple feet apart from each other. “The cones are the edges of the bridge to cross. Please be careful and be sure to report any lost pokemon when you get to the city.”

“Thank you,” Tsukishima nodded.

They started to walk across the bridge being sure not to fall over into the pond. “Why didn't you ask her what happened?” Yamaguchi asked.

“What's to know?” Tsukishima asked. “It clearly flooded somehow. Ask her yourself if you want.”

Yamaguchi sighed and followed Tsukishima to the other side of the pond and into the city. They both froze in their steps to watch the disaster in front of them. The whole city looked like it had just been down poured on with stagnant water all over. Nurses were carting water pokemon into the center on stretchers and several people were being interviewed by news stations.

“Sure there's nothing else to know?” Yamaguchi teased. He playfully nudged Tsukishima's arm with his elbow.

“Shut up, Yamaguchi,” Tsukishima walked ahead of him, pulling up his pokenav. “She lives right over here.”

Yamaguchi chucked and followed behind. “...but in all seriousness, this looks way more than a little flood...”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima agreed. He looked down at his pokenav and then up at the house they stopped in front of. There was a sign that read “Tanaka” on the front. “This is it.”

Tsukishima knocked on the front door and almost instantly it swung open to reveal an intense looking blond haired woman.

“Hey! You must be Kei!” she said happily. “Come on in!”

“Thank you,” Tsukishima said politely. He and Yamaguchi stepped into her house and followed her to the couches where she had already flopped down.

“I'm Saeko Tanaka!” she told them. She had a huge grin on her face and was pointing to herself, as if she could have been introducing someone else by mistake. She turned to Yamaguchi. “You are?”

“Tadashi Yamaguchi.”

“Nice to meet ya!” she gave a silly salute to both boys. “Akiteru said you had something to drop off for me?”

“Yeah,” Tsukishima pulled off his backpack and rummaged through until he found the pokeball his brother gave to him. “He found a couple fossils and got them transformed into pokemon. He wanted to give you this Tyrunt.”

Saeko snatched up the pokeball and looked at it with a gleam of intensity in her eyes. “This is so cool! I'll be sure to call him up later to thank him!”

Tsukishima nodded and started to stand up. He could already tell Saeko's personality was too irritating for him to be around for more than about five minutes. “Well, we have to get going. It was nice to-”

“Oh by the way,” Saeko started to say. Her voice had calmed somewhat and was now watching both boys seriously. “Is your brother still a Pokemon Ranger?”

Tsukishima shook his head. “No, he quit recently.”

“Ah shit, that's a bummer!” Saeko sighed and leaned back into the couch. “Now we're gonna have to wait till tomorrow for one to show up. Ugh, it would've been so convenient if Akiteru could just bolt over!”

“Why do you need a ranger?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Huh, did you two seriously not notice what's going on outside?” Saeko asked in disbelief.

“Tsukki was here a couple hours ago, “Yamaguchi said. “Something's different but we're not sure what.”

“There was a fricken tidal wave!” Saeko exclaimed. She stood up aggressively and moved her arms around to mimic the motion of a wave. “It came out of nowhere! It completely flooded the pond on Route 104 and brought a lot of ocean pokemon to the city. ”

“Are the pokemon okay?”

“Some got messed up really bad,” Saeko said. “The Pokemon Center is totally packed the past time I checked. I hope you guys weren't looking for a place to stay, cause every inch of free space is taken up by injured pokemon.”

Tsukishima sighed. “That's exactly what we were planning on doing.”

“Hmm...do you guys have tents?” Saeko asked. “I think Route 116 managed to avoid most of the flooding. If you set up camp outside the tunnel you should be able to stay pretty dry for the night.”

“I have a single person tent,” Tsukishima said. He turned to Yamaguchi. “Do you have one?”

Yamaguchi shook his head. “No...I didn't think I'd need one.”

Saeko laughed as Tsukishima shook his head in disappointment. “You gotta be prepared for anything when you're a trainer!” Saeko said. “Lucky for you, my baby brother forgot to bring his tent with him when he left. Kid wants to be an ace trainer but forgot half his shit when he left! I can loan you his for the night if you want!”

“That would be great, thank you!”

Saeko loaned Yamaguchi the tent and sent the boys on their way to Route 116. They took their time getting to their camp spot, stopping by the Pokemart and other shops to restock on food, potions, and other necessities. It was hard to navigate the town, even for Tsukishima who had been there several times. Various areas were closed off due to the flooding, and police were re-directing foot traffic so trainers would avoid the washed up pokemon. The entire city was a mad house as volunteers worked to clear areas of debris and pokemon. The pokemon that appeared to be healthy were brought back to the ocean north of the city, and the ones that seemed injured were brought to the pokemon center.

By the time they made it to Route 116 the sun had just set. The shock of the flood seemed to scare nearby pokemon out of the tall grass, as neither of them encountered a wild pokemon attack. They reached the entrance of the Rusturf Tunnel and set up their tents. They agreed on a time to wake up, set the alarm on their pokenavs, said their goodnights and went to their tents to sleep.

About an hour later, Yamaguchi shot up from the floor of his tent with a shriek. He was dripping with sweat and looked around his tent in a panic. He was hoping he had dreamt it, but a second later...

“ _Ghahahahstly!”_

Yamaguchi shook in his seat trying his best not to move. It was his worst nightmare. There was little else that scared him more than ghost pokemon. He had even checked his pokenav before going to bed to double check that no ghost pokemon were in the area. He thought it was safe, but apparently was wrong.

He watched as a figure floated around his tent, illuminated by the moon. Yamaguchi hoped if he tried not to breathe that the ghastly would just go away. The figure got closer to the tent and paused in front of the entrance. A moment later, the pokemon flew through the entrance of the tent and stared at Yamaguchi with its large eyed.

“GHASTLY!” the pokemon yelled.

“AHHH!” Yamaguchi shrieked.

His scream seemed to startle the pokemon as it disappeared from the tent as quickly as it entered. Yamaguchi flew onto his feet and launched himself out of his tent. He looked around quickly to try and find the ghastly but it was nowhere in sight. Instead of going back into his tent, Yamaguchi leapt the few feet between his and Tsukishima's tent and frantically yelled into the tent.

“Tsukki? Tsukki!!”

There was a pause and a rummaging from inside of Tsukishima's tent. “What?” he groggily answered.

Yamaguchi nervously looked all around. “T-tsukki I'm sorry but... there was a ghatly out here and...”

“So catch it.”

“N-no it's gone but-”

“Are you done yelling then? Go back to sleep.”

Yamaguchi felt his insides flutter while the outside remained shaking in place. “Can I sleep in your tent?”

“ _What?_ ” Tsukishima asked, still seemingly half asleep. “No.”

“Please, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi asked again. “I won't be able to sleep. Ghost pokemon freak me out and who knows how many other are here!”

“No.”

“P-please! I'll keep my distance! It flew into my tent and-”

“No. Go cuddle with Pudding or something.”

Yamaguchi couldn't respond to Tsukishima because he felt a coldness creeping up behind him. Slowly he turned around with wide eyes and was face-to-face with a floating purple and black pokemon. There was dead silence for just a moment until the pokemon let out a laugh and flew right through Yamaguchi's face.

“AHHHH, TSUKKI!”

“Oh for fucks sake!” Tsukishima yelled from his tent. The front of the tent unzipped and Yamaguchi turned around to see Tsukishima glaring at him. He wasn't wearing his glasses and his hair was ruffled from sleeping. He looked so groggy and Yamaguchi caught himself blushing. Tsukishima looked much less severe than usual and even looked sort of soft. “If I let you in here will you stop screaming?!”

Yamaguchi blushed out of embarrassment this time and nodded quickly. Tsukishima turned and flopped back down onto his blanket. Yamaguchi wasted no time and rushed back to his own tent and pulled out his blanket and small pillow.

“Thank you,” Yamaguchi said as he slid into Tsukishima's tent. He spread out his blanket as far away from Tsukki as he could, which being a single person tent, wasn't too far away. Yamaguchi laid down under his blanket and curled up facing away from Tsukishima. After a few minutes, the two of them were fast asleep once again.

“Just go to bed,” Tsukishima muttered.

Tsukishima wasn't sure when exactly he was woken up the second time. It probably had to have been a few hours later since it was still dark outside. He was so groggy initially that he wasn't sure why he woke up. Once he gained enough consciousness he turned and noticed the freckled face that was fast asleep on his chest.Yamaguchi's arm was slung across Tsukishima's body with his hand was lazily draped over Tsukshima's waist, and his right leg was brushed across Tsukishima's shin. He was so close and so _warm_. He breathed quietly occasionally exhaling a kind of snorting snore.

Maybe it was his exhausted state, but Tsukishima chose not to try and push Yamaguchi away and instead slowly moved his arm from underneath Yamaguchi and gently wrapped it around his shoulder. Yamaguchi instinctively snuggled in closer.

_I'm probably just tired_ , was what Tsukishima thought as he closed his eyes and fell back asleep.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> they travel to Verdanturf town and meet a new friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oya oya here is chapter 4!!! the managers are here and i'm so ready!! be sure to check out the other works in this collection!! it aaaall ties together!!!

Yamaguchi woke up feeling groggy like he normally did. He had never been a morning person, and especially wasn't after last night. He blinked and rubbed his eyes a few times before he actually registered that it was morning. He reached for his PokeNav to check the time. 9:43am. Tsukishima wanted to be up by 9am, and in the realization that he was late getting up, he shot up from the ground and turned to wake up Tsukishima- who wasn't there.

“Huh?” Yamaguchi scratched his head. He saw that Tsukishima's backpack was gone from the tent as well. In fact the only thing that remained of Tsukishima's things were the rolled up sleeping bag, the tent they slept in, and the blue plaid blanket, which Yamaguchi just noticed was covering him along with his own blanket.

Yamaguchi panicked instantaneously. Did Tsukishima up and leave in the middle of the night? Were they robbed and Tsukishima taken hostage? Yamguchi clenched his face out of worry. There was no way he could rescue Tsukishima! He was a dead man for sure. Yamaguchi reached for his own backpack and opened the front pouch where his Pokeballs were stored. It was empty.

Yamaguchi cried out a little bit and turned his backpack upside down, spilling the contents all over the ground. They were really gone! Yamaguchi wondered who could have stolen his pokemon and Tsukki too. Unless Tsukishima really did leave on his own and robbed Yamaguchi beforehand. Yamaguchi nearly cried. This was his life now. Alone and without Pokemon, responsible for Tsukishima's death. The cops were on their way for sure. Now Yamaguchi was sweating in fear. He had to try and catch the thieves, or kidnappers, or whoever was responsible for this. Without even bothering to put his shoes on, Yamaguchi burst from the tent and out into the sunshine.

“Morning.”

Yamaguchi wanted to let out a sigh of relief that everything was suddenly OK, but given his state of panic, Yamaguchi just froze in his footsteps, barely breathing. Plus his state of shock from the scene in front of him was too much to handle.

Tsukishima sat in front of a small fire, cooking bacon and eggs in a frying pan which was suspended by a metal tripod. All the pokemon were there as well, including Yamaguchi's, who all mewed excitedly to see their trainer awake. Tsukki was cooking breakfast, wearing a loose fitting hoodie, hair disheveled. That combined with the smell of bacon and crackling fire was nearly too much for Yamaguchi.

“G-good morning,” Yamaguchi said. He regained composure, trying not to stare too hard at the man cooking him breakfast, and took a seat across the fire. Puddin trotted over and took a seat in Yamaguchi's lap.

“Want coffee?” Tsukishima held up a thermos and mug. Yamaguchi nodded and took both from him. “I hope you like bacon and eggs.” It was less of a silly tease and more of a 'this is your only option' type of tone.

“Yeah, thanks,” Yamaguchi replied. He took a sip of coffee and enjoyed the feeling of it warming his whole body. “S-sorry I woke up late.”

“It's fine,” Tsukishima said, not taking his eyes off the cooking. “I took the liberty of releasing and feeing your Pokemon. I hope you don't mind.”

“Oh! No that's fine! Thanks, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi laughed. “I _was_ worried I'd been robbed and you'd been kidnapped when I first woke up though.”

Tsukki laughed a little bit. “Nice to know you have confidence in me.”

“N-no I-”

“I'm kidding,” Tsukishima laughed. His laugh came out a little raspy from being so tired. Yamaguchi had to grip the coffee mug harder to avoid literally grasping his heart. “I went back to Rustboro to pick up things for breakfast and a couple more supplies. I left Sylveon behind to keep watch. I think ahead of kidnappers.”

“Wait why'd you need to keep a guard?”

“Because you sleep through everything,” Tsukishima replied. “If kidnappers or thieves or whatever you thought was coming for your tubby Chickorita did show up, you'd undoubtedly sleep through it.”

Yamaguchi looked surprised. “How'd you know I'm a heavy sleeper? Did something happen last night?!”

Tsukishima immediately stopped cooking and looked up. So Yamaguchi didn't know. He really did sleep through rolling over and cuddling up next to Tsukishima, Tsukishima putting an arm around him, and Tsukishima removing his arm when he woke up. They cuddled through the entire night and Yamaguchi seriously had no idea. Tsukshima had to say something, but couldn't think of any casual way to bring up what happened without making a big deal out of it. So he lied.

“Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked after an uncomfortable silence.

“The Ghastly came back,” he replied. He looked down at the pan and removed it from the fire. “With a Haunter too. It woke me up, but you were passed out.”

Yamaguchi shivered in his seat, despite being warmed by the fire and coffee. “I hate ghost pokemon! I'm glad I slept through that. Thanks again for letting me crash with you.”

Tsukishima turned around to grab a plate for the food. He smiled while turned away, not at all upset with what happened. “You're welcome. Here, eat up.”

After Yamaguchi scarfed down his breakfast, the two boys and their pokemon worked to take down their campsite. They'd become closer overnight, and Yamaguchi noticed a change in energy between them. It was going from traveling companions to actual friends. Yamaguchi wasn't sure what happened but wasn't about to question it.

Once they were packed up they entered Rusturf Tunnel. After making it about halfway through the tunnel, the yells from the whismur were enough to startle Yamaguchi into throwing his bulbasaur's pokeball in the general direction the noise came from. Problem being that the whismur scattered at the light of the pokeball, and being in the darkest part of the tunnel, it was nearly impossible to see Bulbasaur.

“Seriously?” Tsukishima asked.

“Bulbasaur?” Yamaguchi yelled into the tunnel. “You there buddy?”

“Bulba?”

Yamaguchi looked to his right and saw Bulbasaur walking towards him, carrying its pokeball in its vines.

“Ah, thanks Bulbasaur!” Yamaguchi took the pokeball and tucked it back into his backpack. “Sorry about that.”

Bulbasaur said nothing and walked in front of the boys, using its vines to scan the path ahead and make a clear way for them to walk. It tossed aside a couple of rocks and turned back to make sure they were following.

“He's so smart!” Yamaguchi cooed.

“After you threw it ten feet into the darkness it's probably concerned you might die in here.”

“Ah, sorry,” Yamaguchi said. “I'm not scared of anything in here, the whismur's yell just startled me.”

“So you tried to hit it with Bulbasaur.”

“I would have battled it!”

“You threw it in the complete opposite direction the noise was coming from.”

“I did?”

“Oh my god.”

Yamaguchi sighed and continued walking. He felt a little embarrassed so he changed topic. “What's on the other side of the cave? Where are we headed?”

“Verdanturf Town,” Tsukishima said. “There's not a lot there. I was just planning on passing through.”

“And then where?”

“Follow the road to Mauville City and then head north to Lavaridge Town. That's where the next gym is.”

“So you're still gonna try to get to the pokemon league?”

Tsukishima shrugged. “Yeah. Until I find something else to do, I guess.”

“Have any ideas?”

“No,” Tsukishima replied almost instantly. “What do you want to do?”

“Oh, I don't know.”

“It's fine that you're traveling with me but,” Tsukishima started to say. “Make sure you do things that you want to do. Don't feel compelled to follow me.”

Yamaguchi was a little taken aback. It had only been a day and suddenly Tsukishima was reminding him that he could leave at any time. He paused for a second, feeling flustered. “I know but...I want to travel with you.”

Tsukishima glanced over at Yamaguchi, who wasn't looking at him. Was he...blushing? “What do you-”

“AHHHHHH!”

They had just reached the other side of the tunnel when a loud shriek caught them off guard. It was coming from the outside and repeated a couple of times before Yamaguchi and Tsukishima silently agreed to begin running towards it, Bulbasaur leading the way. It wasn't very long until they reached the exit to the tunnel and were thrown into the sunlight where a short blonde girl was bering cornered by two taller men.

“Are those pirates?” Yamaguchi asked in absolute seriousness.

“Terrible costumes,” Tsukishima said, rather loudly, with a smirk on his face. The two men heard him and glared over at them, not backing away from the girl.

“Huh?! Who are you two?” one of them grunted.

The other took a couple looks back and forth until it locked eyes on Bulbasaur. “Hey, let's ditch this girl. Looks like these two actually have pokemon!”

The two men laughed menacingly and swaggered over to Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. The girl stood petrified, white knuckling the stack of pamphlets she was holding. She took a step forward to try and stop them, but realized she couldn't do anything.

“Who are you?” Tsukishima asked calmly.

“Yeah!” Yamaguch echoed. “And why are you picking on her?”

“Heheh,” one laughed. “Yer looking at the two newest members of Team Aqua!

“We got rejected from the big mission, so we're killing time here instead!” the second one said. “This girly here says she doesn't have any pokemon, so it's your lucky day! Hand over your pokemon and no one gets hurt!”

Tsukshima laughed. “I'd like to see you clowns try.”

“Are...are we battling?” Yamaguchi asked. “Is this happening?

“Hell yeah it is! You guys are no match for our swarm of golbats!” the two men threw out four pokeballs, each revealing a golbat.

“Tch,” Tsukishima clicked his tongue. “How lame. Go, Skiddo!” Tsukishima tossed his pokeball into the air and his Skiddo popped out of it in a white light.

“You go too, Bulbasaur!” Yamaguchi added. His bulbasaur leapt onto the battlefield to join Skiddo. “Use vine whip!”

“Skiddo, use leach seed!”

Bulbasaur launched its vines into the air and grabbed two golbats with each. It then smacked the two together in midair and threw them to the side. They hit the ground and one, that was significantly smaller, immediately KO'd. The other golbat took a couple seconds to steady itself back up and it slowly flew back to join the others. At the same time, Skiddo shot half a dozen leech seeds into the air at the other two golbats. The flying pokemon easily dodged five of them, but the last clipped the wing of one golbat.

One of the Team Aqua grunts called back its knocked out golbat and then commanded, “Golbat, use confuse ray on that Skiddo!”

“You two, use bite!”

Yamaguchi shriked as two golbats descended down towards Bulbasaur. They each bit down hard on the bulb on Bulbasaur's back, and it cried out in pain. “Ahh, ahh, ahh, Bulbasaur use sleep powder!”

At the same time, the third golbat released a psychic beam and made a direct hit with Tsukishima's Skiddo. It was daunting enough to knock the goat pokemon backward and land at Tsukishima's feet.

“Are you okay?” Tsukishima quietly asked his pokemon. Skiddo made a grunting sound and stood back up, kicking its back feet into the dirt, ready to charge. “Go and use tackle!”

Skiddo took a couple of steps forward until it started shaking its head in confusion. It kicked all of its hooves into the ground, stomping in place and creating a small cloud of dirt. After a moment it decided to turn around and charge directly into Tsukishima's kneecaps, sending his trainer into the dirt.

“Son of a pidgy...” Tsukishima murmured to himself while rubbing his backside. “Skiddo, try going the _other_ way!”

The grunts were laughing to each other in the distance, apparently no longer interested in fighting either pokemon. The other two golbats were knocked out from Bulbasaur's sleep powder, but one still remained, patiently waiting for its trainer's command. Skiddo was so confused it apparently forgot what to do when not attacking, so it proceeded to hop and jump around on the ground, amusing itself by flinging dirt into the air. Yamaguchi and his Bulbasaur were the only ones still in the fight. Yamaguchi swallowed hard. “Bulbasaur, use razor leaf!”

“Bulba!” the pokemon yelled. Dozens of leaves shot from its bulb, hitting the final golbat square in its wide open mouth while it wasn't paying attention. Golbat coughed and gagged to spit out what leaves it had swallowed, but was over taken by the remaining flying leaves and sent it across the road into a bush.

“Aw shit, Golbat!” one grunt yelled as it followed after its fallen pokemon.

“Grr, you kids won't get away so easily next time!” the other grunt called. He returned his two golbats to their balls and waited for the other to return, also calling back the golbats. The two yelled some profanities at Tsukishima (who gave them the finger) and Yamaguchi (who apologized), and ran off and out of town.

Once out of site, Yamaguchi knelt down and patted Bulbasaur on the back, thanking it for fighting hard. “You did great buddy!” The Bulbasaur purred out its name to its trainer and nuzzled its head on Yamaguchi's knees. Yamaguchi smiled and was ready to say something else, but was caught off guard when Bulbasaur became engulfed in white light. Yamaguchi watched as Bulbasaur's shape grew larger, and new appendages grew from its back bulb. It was over in a matter of seconds, and the white light faded, leaving a new pokemon in its place. 

"Ivysaur!" Yamaguchi cried. "Y-you evolved! This is incredible! Tsukki! Tsukki look, Bulbasaur-" 

“For god sake, Skiddo, retur-” Tsukishima was slammed to the ground again by his Skiddo, still not entirely out of its confusion. Since the battle had ended, Tsukishima had been knocked back three more times in an attempt to return his pokemon. 

“Ah, Tsukki!” Yamaguchi ran over to help Tsukishima stand back up. He made eye contact with the Skiddo and was prepared to be knocked down as well. Instead, the Skiddo trotted to Yamaguchi and brushed itself against his legs.

“You're kidding,” Tsukishima breathed out. He was bent over grabbing both knees in pain and lifted his head to Skiddo, glaring at it. “Just me?”

Skiddo looked apathetically at Tsukishima and snorted out air at its trainer. It went back to giving affection to Yamaguchi instead.

“U-uh...excuse me?” Tsukishima and Yamaguchi looked over their shoulders to see the blonde girl walking towards them, looking petrified. The boys stood up straight to greet her, which seemed to startle her even more. “AH!”

They were both taken aback by her yell, and she bowed down deeply, apologizing profusely. “Sorry! I'm so sorry I was a burden! Thank you so much for saving me!”

“It's no trouble!” Yamaguchi assured her. He took a step forward and held out his hand. “I'm Tadashi Yamaguchi. This is Kei Tsukishima.”

“H-hitoka Yachi,” she said nervously shaking Yamaguchi's hand. “You're both s-so t-tall!”

Yamaguchi laughed. “Yeah it's a bit unusual, huh? Are you OK? What were those guys up to?”

“Oh, they were just some thieves. They wanted pokemon from me, but I don't have any. They didn't believe me and then asked me to steal from my friend.”

“Your friend?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Here,” Yachi held out one of the pamphlets. It was a nice looking flyer of a blue and purple stage with pink spotlights aiming down at it. The silhouette of a trainer and their pokemon was in the background. “My friend is in a pokemon contest. I was trying to get people to come to her show. They heard I knew her and wanted me to steal her Ninetails.”

“That's awful!” Yamaguchi yelled.

“Pretty shitty thieves if they need someone else to steal for them,” Tsukishima muttered.

Yachi laughed nervously, clearly still intimidated by Tsukishima's height and presence and...everything else. “Oh! H-here!” Yachi pulled two tickets out of her purse and handed it to them. “Please take these! The show starts in about an hour.”

“Sorry, we don't have the money to see a contest,” Tsukishima told her politely.

“On the house!” Yachi insisted. “As a thank you. My friend is really good. Its a Master Rank Beauty contest. It's gonna be a great show!”

“What do you think, Tsukki?” Yamaguchi asked with a huge grin. “I've never been to one before!”

Tsukishima shrugged and took one of the tickets from Yachi. “Sure.”

Yamaguchi cheered and took the other from Yachi. “Thanks, Yachi! Will we see you there?”

Yachi smiled wide at the boys. “Defiantly! You'll love it. Shimizu won't disappoint!”

 


End file.
